Indicted Illinois lawmaker expelled from House remains in race for former seat

Party leaders make final push to replace Democrat with independent on Election Day

Ousted Illinois state Rep. Derrick Smith is seeing through his attempt to recapture the House seat stripped from him in the wake of a bribery indictment. (Terrence Antonio James, Tribune photo)

Derrick Smith managed the rare feat of being expelled from the Illinois House. He faces corruption charges that could send him to federal prison. Authorities say they've got a recording of him requesting that a $7,000 bribe come in cash because he didn't "want no trace of it."

And yet, a smattering of blue-and-white "Vote Derrick Smith" yard signs dot the West Side. It's also not difficult to find people who say they're going to cast a ballot for him. As the Democratic Party's candidate, the board is naturally tilted in Smith's favor.

A Smith victory would add another improbable tale to a distinctly Chicago lore of the commingling of politics and the criminal courthouse. It's a Royko-esque narrative from a place that's produced a large-coiffed ex-governor from the Northwest Side who is now incarcerated and where the City Council has been home to a rogue's gallery of indicted aldermen caught with their hands out or their bagmen not far behind.

Smith was the product of what's left of the Democratic machine, and now some of those same political bosses are doing what they can to defeat him. Led by Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, they're marshaling a ground game to boost the candidacy of lawyer Lance Tyson, the guy they picked to run as an independent.

"(Tyson) is the only unindicted person running for state representative," said White, calling Smith's presence a "bizarre scenario" and fodder for late-night TV jokes.

The short version of the Smith story: Arrested a week before the March primary in a federal sting and charged with taking a bribe in return for recommending a state grant, he was nonetheless backed by several party leaders and won with almost 77 percent of the vote. Then Smith refused to resign or get off the ballot. That led Tyson to run and the Illinois House to vote 100-6 to make Smith the first member to get the boot in 107 years.

Nothing, however, prevents Smith from being sworn in come January should he win Tuesday — the Illinois Constitution gives him a measure of protection akin to the legal shield against double jeopardy. Should Smith be convicted in federal court, however, he would have to leave the House again.

Smith is running in the 10th House District, which stretches from West Garfield Park to Lincoln Park. Smith, who did not respond to requests for comment, is banking on voters reliably punching the Democratic column on Election Day. He's also counting on enough of them giving the benefit of the doubt to a politician who has pleaded not guilty.

Twonda Williams is one of them.

"I think he's a good man," Williams said. "This is life. We are all human. We all make mistakes and we all fall short. But you can't hold my lifestyle down or what I'm trying to pursue in life over one bad thing. He can still do good work."

Williams planned to cast an early vote for Smith at the Frederick Douglass branch library on Monday. It's not far from where blue-and-white Smith signs are displayed prominently in the windows of Wallace's Catfish Corner. The popular neighborhood spot is owned by former Ald. Wallace Davis, convicted himself a quarter-century ago of accepting a $5,000 bribe, forcing his niece to pay $11,000 in kickbacks and extorting $3,000.

Across the street, stapled to a sign advertising parking for the restaurant, two stark black-and-white posters from Tyson's campaign feature Smith's photo under big block letters spelling "WANTED."

Tyson's attack brochure is even more blunt: "Derrick Smith is so corrupt that even the Illinois Legislature doesn't want him around."

Though running as an independent, Tyson has Democratic ties. He served as former Cook County Board President Todd Stroger's first chief of staff and is on the sheriff's merit commission. But it's Tyson's loose tie to President Barack Obama that he's out there selling to voters.

Tyson's brochure features a picture of him with then-state Sen. Obama. Tyson said the snapshot came from a bill-signing ceremony when he served as a Springfield lobbyist for then-Mayor Richard Daley and helped Obama with job-creating enterprise zone legislation.

The attorney's challenge is to persuade voters who habitually vote Democratic to vote for a third-party candidate in a low-profile, down-ballot contest. Union members have sent in troops for phone banks, and Tyson has pulled in more than $160,000 in contributions, including help from White and other ward committeemen. Smith's fundraising has dried up.

"It's just been a door-by-door, person-by-person education process," said Tyson, 41.

If he wins, Tyson said he would push for tax credits for employers who hire former criminal offenders, a message that resonates with Henry Davis, who passed out pro-Tyson fliers across the street from the Douglass library. Davis said he has searched for a job for five years, but employers look away when they learn of his criminal record.

"(Smith) hasn't done nothing for me," Davis said. "I can't even get a job at Burger King. ... I've got to crawl before I walk."